India A will face England Lions in the second unofficial Test match at the County Ground in Northampton from June 6 to 9. The first practice game ended in a draw. There is an intra-squad match scheduled but this match could help players in assimilating to the English conditions and get some crucial red-ball practice before the Test series.
Sarfaraz Khan dropped for KL Rahul
Considering that almost every India A batter contributed with the bat; one wouldn’t expect any changes there. But one major development has happened. KL Rahul has joined the squad for the 2nd England Lions squad. Considering he’s part of the Test squad and will be named in the XI in Headingley, he’ll slot in. But this means a batter will have to be dropped.
So, who would it be? Well, since only Sarfaraz Khan is the batter among the top six who isn’t part of the Test squad, he’ll have to sit out. He’s worked on his fitness and also played a fine 93-run knock but all the other batters will stay back in England, while he won’t. So, it makes sense Sarfaraz will be the one making way for Rahul.
Where will KL Rahul bat?
Another question is, where does Rahul bat? We still don’t know which number Rahul would be slotted to bat at. Considering that he’s batted at almost every number, it’s safe to assume that he’ll bat at number four in the India A vs England Lions 2nd match. It was the position where Sarfaraz batted in the first innings. And who knows, it might be the position where Rahul bats in Headingley as well.
Akash Deep & Tanush Kotian in, Harshit Rana & Harsh Dubey out
Akash Deep couldn’t play the first practice match since he was part of Lucknow Super Giants until May 27. But he’ll feature in this game. He’ll most likely replace Harshit Rana. He was the least performing fast bowler in Canterbury. The only wicket he got was of tailender Josh Hull. And it wasn’t just wickets; his line, length, and control were all over the place as well.
You expect your spinner to bowl a big chunk of your overs on flat pitches and be economical, at least. Harsh Dubey was the least economical of all bowlers and delivered fewer or the same number of overs as all 4 pacers. Most likely Tanush Kotian will take his place. He’s an off-spinner and should fare better than the England Lions, who have several left-handed batters. Kotian is also a better batter than Dubey.
Predicted India A playing XI for England Lions 2nd match
Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, KL Rahul (in), Dhruv Jurel (vc & wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Tanush Kotian (in), Akash Deep (in), Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Kumar
Bench: Ishan Kishan (wk), Manav Suthar, Harshit Rana (out), Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tushar Deshpande, Harsh Dubey (out), Sarfaraz Khan (out)
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